Chapter 137: Reunion

"The Flesh and Blood Swamp is entirely infested with inner demons inside and out?" Xu Zhong's heart skipped a beat, and he found it hard to believe.

He had suppressed Yun Yong and the others with sheer force, and then spent a great deal of words and persuasion to make them barely believe his identity. When the Flesh and Blood Swamp was brought up, he learned about its current situation from Yun Yong's own mouth. However, he had never expected that such a place would have turned into a transit station for inner demons.

"That's right!" Yun Yong nodded. "There is an overwhelming number of inner demons there. Even those whose heart-mirrors are the most lucid and untainted will inevitably fall prey to their invasion."

"But why would inner demons appear in the Flesh and Blood Swamp in the first place?" Xu Zhong could not comprehend it.

"The Flesh and Blood Swamp, as the name implies, is a swamp condensed entirely from flesh and blood," Yun Yong explained patiently. "Do you really think the flesh and blood of a single demonic beast or a single human Qi practitioner could possibly conjure up an entire swamp?"

Naturally, that was an impossibility. Even a legendary Tai sui could not withstand such lavish consumption. Therefore, it was blatantly obvious that the Flesh and Blood Swamp was a creation formed by gathering the flesh and blood of countless living beings.

"Since it is formed from the flesh and blood of all living things, it is only natural that various kinds of inner demons would be born from it."

Inner demons originate from the human heart and arise from all sorts of thoughts. After those beings died, these thoughts became even more intense, eventually giving birth to inner demons.

"There are quite a few Flesh and Blood Swamps across the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands," Yun Yong sighed. "Yet, of all the ones I have witnessed, this place is by far the most terrifying. Hovering faintly above the Flesh and Blood Swamp, a Demon King has actually taken form."

Only those at the Vehicle-Carrying Realm were qualified to be called kings. An inner demon king—this was truly beyond all expectations.

"Do not be afraid; the existence of that inner demon is subject to certain restrictions," the Longque murmuring from within the shadow said softly. "Surrounding the Flesh and Blood Swamp is a Clear Mind and Soul-Locking Array. This array imprisons it deep within the swamp, preventing it from leaving as it pleases."

"It sounds like that inner demon was deliberately placed in there by you people?" Xu Zhong asked, listening to the voice from the shadow and employing the art of voice-transmission.

"You are quite clever, aren't you?" The Longque's voice was calm, undisturbed like an ancient well. "That inner demon king was captured by Boss Tenglong himself when he traveled to the Nine Heavens, snatching it from the Thirty-Three Heavens of Demonic Heavens, specifically to keep the other inner demons in the Flesh and Blood Swamp in check."

"In order to break free, that inner demon king requires the thoughts of massive amounts of living beings, so it controls the other inner demons to hunt for flesh and blood to feed it."

Inner demons devour thoughts, but physical bodies of flesh and blood that fall into the swamp are refined into its source of power. Such a scheme was truly wondrous.

"And you aren't even afraid of a demonic backlash?" Xu Zhong sneered.

At this point, the Longque simply chose not to reply.

"Brother Xu, are you alright?" Yun Yong looked at Xu Zhong with a peculiar expression. He could tell that the other party was using a secret voice-transmission technique, yet none of the entities present were communicating back to him. It appeared that there was some sort of "evil spirit" residing within Xu Zhong, and that "evil spirit" was driving him toward the Flesh and Blood Swamp.

He signaled Tang Yuan, Shiyue, and another Qi practitioner with a subtle glance. Upon seeing this, the others immediately raised their guard.

However, the very next moment, the Longque burst out from Xu Zhong's shadow.

Boundless in scale and possessing infinite magical power, it demanded astral fire from the heavens and netherworld fire from the earth, combining them with the Vermilion Bird True Fire inherent to its own existence to forge the Three-Purity True Fire. In a single instant, it suppressed Yun Yong and the others, leaving them utterly powerless to fight back.

The Longque transformed into human form, plucked out the Three-Purity True Fire, and sliced open a wound across each of their chests, exposing their beating hearts. It shoved the Three-Purity True Fire directly into their hearts.

The Qi practitioner who had not yet exchanged names with Xu Zhong could not withstand the force and was instantly consumed by a backlash of the Three-Purity True Fire. His physical body, golden core, primordial spirit, and soul were burned away completely together, scattering into a heap of fine ashes.

"Is this meant to be executing a chicken to scare the monkeys?" Xu Zhong remained expressionless at the sight.

That flame was indeed immensely powerful, but given the Longque's strength, it was not as if it could not control the output. Killing one person was simply meant to intimidate the rest.

The Three-Purity True Fire lurking within the hearts of Yun Yong and the others burned fiercely, flowing along with their blood throughout their entire bodies. The next moment, the True Fire began to jet outward from every single pore on their skin.

"I originally had no wish to meddle in unnecessary matters," the Longque said, shaking its head as it looked at Yun Yong and the others. "If you had simply stayed quiet and obedient, I would not have laid a hand on you. But since you chose to harbor petty thoughts, I am left with no choice but to drag you along with us."

Yun Yong and the others clearly did not know the identity of the Longque. When that earth-shattering heavenly tribulation of the Jasper Pool had descended, they must have been sequestered deep within the Bronze Gorge, completely cut off from perceiving the outside world.

It was only when the Longque retreated back into the shadow that Xu Zhong began to recount its origins to them.

"What a pity that Sister Xuan is not here!" Hearing this, Yun Yong could not help muttering inwardly. "If Sister Xuan were present, there would be no room for the Longque to act so audaciously."

They had entered the Nether Illumination realm together with Xuan Jiuyuan and Yin Xin. Yin Xin was none of the other than that gigantic dragon-turtle. It was just that after entering the Sleeping Dragon Valley, they had all parted ways to act independently.

"Fortunately, however, I left myself a contingency plan."

Floating above Xuan Jiuyuan's elixir field was a mighty, flowing celestial river, upon which various musical notes were engraved. They chimed out the five traditional pentatonic notes of *gong, shang, jiao, zhi,* and *yu*, along with *bianzhi* and *biangong*, weaving these seven tones into a melody that guarded Yun Yong's physical body.

Upon closer inspection, this was no celestial river at all; it was clearly a zither string. Yun Yong's elder sister was an accomplished primordial deity who had hidden a zither string directly within her younger brother's body.

"I can use this zither string to sever and extinguish this Three-Purity True Fire," he pondered inwardly.

Yet he did not know whether Xu Zhong and his companion had left behind their own trump cards. If he were to act rashly and extinguish the Three-Purity True Fire, that Longque would undoubtedly notice, and driven to desperation, it would cause all of them to perish.

Shiyue gave a cough and quietly revealed her astrolabe. It was a replica of the Book of Life and Death.

Meanwhile, Tang Yuan instinctively produced a bronze cauldron and hoisted it into the air, appearing ready to set off and rely on the vessel to fend off the surrounding miasma and inner demons.

However, both Xu Zhong and Yun Yong were astute individuals; they naturally understood the intentions being conveyed by the other two. Exchanging a glance, the two of them smiled at one another.

Xu Zhong looked toward the distant Flesh_and_Blood Swamp and said, "It is time for us to be on our way."

Within the Bronze Gorge, regardless of day or night, thick mists and miasmic vapors rolled endlessly. Ordinary mortals could discern nothing within, and miasmic demons moved in tandem with the fog.

No sooner had they stepped away from the bronze plank road than roiling miasma surged and billowed toward them, populated by malevolent and terrifying demons visible to the naked eye. They lunged madly at Xu Zhong and the others, their jaws gaping as they spewed demonic light and malevolent Qi.

Xu Zhong commanded the sword pellet above his head, unleashing countless flying swords that whirled around him like a colossal tornado, grinding and shredding every single inner demon to pieces.

Wisps of demonic Qi lingered within the clouds. Yet Xu Zhong sensed that something was amiss. While the vast majority of the demonic Qi returned to heaven and earth, a small portion of it was actually being absorbed by his primordial spirit palace.

He mentally surveyed his elixir field and saw that the wisps of demonic Qi had transformed into streams of demonic light traversing the palace, wrapping tightly around his human soul. His human soul seemed to be absorbing the demonic Qi itself.

Xu Zhong's heart raced as he addressed the Heavenly Dao Demonic Form sealed within: "What is the meaning of this?"